Tesla CEO Elon Musk says that he would be willing to donate even more money as a way to accelerate the widening of a major north-south highway in Los Angeles, known as the 405 Freeway. So far, he’s already donated $50,000 out of a total cost that has now ballooned to $1.1 billion, but he said he’d gladly pay more to add more workers.

"[I’d pay more] as a contribution to the city and my own happiness,” Musk told the Los Angeles Times on Thursday. “If it can actually make a difference, I would gladly contribute funds and ideas. I've super had it."

The Times wrote that Musk says, “it's easier getting rockets into orbit than navigating his commute between [his] home in Bel-Air and his Space Exploration Technologies factory in Hawthorne,” a distance of less than 20 miles.

The primary contractor for the freeway widening project, Kiewit, has been instructed to keep the 405 open at all costs, and it defended its work in a statement sent to the Times on Wednesday. The project was originally slated to be finished by spring 2013, but it's looking increasingly likely that it won't be fully complete until the end of next year.

"The costs and schedule impacts are the result of the project's overall complexity and the significant challenges associated with multiple unexpected utility and right-of-way issues," the firm said. "Kiewit and [the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority] are committed to working together to minimize future delays and resolve final costs. We… are committed to delivering the highest-quality product on the I-405 project."

Ya think he'd be able to pick his drive times better, being CEO and all. I've driven 405 many times during non-rush hour times, and yeah, busy highway, but not bad at all unless there's a wreck or stalled junker.I have certainly experienced much worse in places like Austin or Long Island.

One would think he could telecommute for all the good an "executive" is going to do a "space exploration" company. Telecommute most days and visit on random days to keep the engineers on their toes. Surely you don't need to be there all the time.

I'm going to invent a car where someone else drives and you sit in the back with lots of space to sit comfortably and maybe get some work done on the trip. Since there's lots of space, I'll call it a Space Car, which would no doubt get Musk's attention.

I'm also a very fast worker, so if he wires me $10 million for the development, he'll have a year's exclusive use of my first Space Car starting the very next morning.

One would think he could telecommute for all the good an "executive" is going to do a "space exploration" company. Telecommute most days and visit on random days to keep the engineers on their toes. Surely you don't need to be there all the time.

From the sounds of it, the problem is not lack of money, but the sheer incompetence of the contractor(s).

I've known some of the project managers for the prime (Kiewit) and other civil infrastructure projects. When Kiewit says that the problem is securing the rights-of-way, that is in fact the problem. Convincing a neighborhood to sell you their houses so that you can destroy them and build a freeway isn't something that happens overnight. One person can hold it up and add months. Ultimately the prime has to procure the land on the open market.

When they say the project has ballooned to $1.1b, it isn't because the contractor dragged their feet to get more money. The contractor pays to buy the land. When they shut down the freeways, or lanes of the freeway, they have to rent it from the municipality. So for example, want to shut down that off-ramp for an hour because that is what you have to do? Pay CalTrans (or whoever their DOT is) the rental fee.

If they won't let you close the freeway for an evening to install an overpass, that means you have to close half of it, build half an overpass, remove all of that construction and put the roadway back in service, shut the other half, build all the stuff you need to build the other half, and so on. In Utah Kiewitt solved that problem by building the overpass deck off to the side of the freeway and then moving them in to place. Pretty wild stuff. Also expensive and time consuming.

Just like anything else, when you learn sufficient information about the details, you realize that there are a lot of contributing factors.

History tells us that if they build more lanes, people fill them with more cars.

That's completely counter-productive.

Actually, that only happens if it allows a new neighborhood. If it only serves an established area, it reduces congestion.

From what I read, at any moment, some people are choosing not to drive based on the traffic level. When you build more capacity, some of those people will now decide to drive. Whether or not that brings the road back to its old level depends on the situation.

Pah! This is Elon Musk... surely this is the impetus we need to get investment in JetPacks! I've been promised that the future will have Jetpacks since the 1950's -- and I still don't have one!Elon -- quit farting around with electric cars, and get started on those Jetpacks -- then we won't need the 405!

One would think he could telecommute for all the good an "executive" is going to do a "space exploration" company.

I know the stupid pointy-haired boss, right? You've got him nailed. What a dunderhead he is, you know besides starting one successful high tech business after another.

I think it's just dumb luck that he not only started and sold a successful software company and an online payment processor, but also built a profitable electric car company and a space launch company from scratch.

Actually it should have been me who did all that, but since I'm not a dumb executive, I spent too much time analyzing the details of rocket combustion chamber metallurgy and before I was done with my unworldly cogitations, the dumb executive had already hired all of the good engineers.

"commute between his home in Bel-Air and his Space Exploration Technologies factory "

oh to have that problem.

Would be nice, but still who's going to listen to the guy who lives in Encino and needs to travel to Culver City, they'll listen to the guy who sends rockets into space! ...and if that same rich man can speed up the project with his money.... then I won't complain about his rich guy problems, lol

From the sounds of it, the problem is not lack of money, but the sheer incompetence of the contractor(s).

I've known some of the project managers for the prime (Kiewit) and other civil infrastructure projects. When Kiewit says that the problem is securing the rights-of-way, that is in fact the problem. Convincing a neighborhood to sell you their houses so that you can destroy them and build a freeway isn't something that happens overnight. One person can hold it up and add months. Ultimately the prime has to procure the land on the open market.

^ This. Kiewit is one of the best construction companies in the world. They have an excellent reputation for doing things right and are likely not to blame here.

Transportion in LA is just plain old fucked up and nothing short of getting in a time machine and preventing the Red Line from being dismantled decades ago is going to fix it.

History tells us that if they build more lanes, people fill them with more cars.

That's completely counter-productive.

Actually, that only happens if it allows a new neighborhood. If it only serves an established area, it reduces congestion.

I think it is valid. Think of a generational occurrence. Every generation buys cars, and a family can have as much as 1-5 cars. So will the car pool in general. This is one of the reasons that anywhere in the world space is precious and not just in Los Angeles.For someone that is developing a green car, its strange statement. In the shortterm it will surely reduce traffic jams, over the long run it will not. I do not drive the 405 but i pity anyone who actually has to drive through that mess on a daily basis. It explains road rage too, perhaps.

For decades, urban areas across the country have been adding lanes and building roads to fight congestion, but a recent study by University of Toronto researchers finds that widening and building more roads actually creates more traffic